A valuable new public interest group: Global Workers Justice Alliance

Hundreds of millions of workers have migrated internally or across borders for work. The New York City – based Global Workers Justice Allianceprotecting the rights of cross border workers through an international network of worker advocates and resources. Its initial focus is on the trans border workforces connecting the United States with Mexico and/or Guatemala. It tools include education, advocacy of public policies, and litigation support.
The Alliance is filling a huge hole into which many injured, payroll shortchanged or in other ways abused injured immigrant workers have fallen. I hope that the Alliance will help to place some estimates of the number and types of these problems.
Every immigrant worker community organization including legal aid organizations should connect with the Alliance.
The basic theme of the Alliance is “Businesses are global. Workers are global. Justice is not.”

Millions of people, more than ever before, cross national borders seeking employment. Too often these global migrants are often cheated of wages, injured, and have other rights violated on the job in their host country. When the workers return home, however, the obstacles to achieving justice both practical and legal–are nearly insurmountable. The result is that valid claims are routinely abandoned and thousands of workers never receive their wages or treatment for compensable injuries. Without advocates supporting each other to provide a continuum of legal representation, these workers will continue to be used and abused within the globalized economy. Workers should not have to check their legal rights at the border. Global workers require global justice.

One of its services is “Case Facilitation”.

Global Workers facilitates employment-related litigation for low-wage migrant workers who have left the country of employment to return home Practical and legal barriers usually result in migrant workers being unable to access justice in the country of employment once they have left that country. Global Workers bridges that gap by connecting and supporting advocates in the country of employment to the country of origin so that workers have access to justice no matter where they go. Cases are initiated either in the country of employment or the country of origin by advocates in those countries.

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on Tuesday, January 2nd, 2007 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Legal Topics.
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